r/SnapmakerU1

Creality K3 vs Snapmaker U1

Hello everyone. Lately, the Snapmaker U1 printer has really caught my eye. I currently own the Creality K1, K1C, and K1 Max CFS; each has seen over 2,000 hours of use. I want to sell my K1 and K1C printers and upgrade to a new-generation multi-color printer, but I’m torn between the Creality K3 and the Snapmaker U1. What are the downsides of the U1? Does it have any known chronic issues? I’d appreciate your advice. The Creality K1 series (both single and multi-color models) gave me quite a bit of trouble over time—I experienced frequent clogging issues. (I have no experience with the K2 series.)

What is your take on this?

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u/Historical_Lychee_34 — 9 days ago

How to resolve these Z layer lines ?

So iv had my U1 for a week or two and have started to print some larger objects.

However I'm always getting these layer lines starting at around the 55-60mm.

On multiple prints they show at the same location height wise, and it happens on all PLA types I have printed with.

Iv tried :

- XY belts tensioner

- Z belt tensioner

- manual bed leveling

- slowing down the print

Any suggestions would be amazing, although I think their may be something wrong with my right lead screw (however I'm having trouble convincing the original shop that it could be faulty)

Thanks in advance

u/TheReturnOfTheBee — 9 days ago

Filament tangled or knotted on spool but all 4 spools feel the same

Please help

u/Hackind — 9 days ago
▲ 33 r/SnapmakerU1+1 crossposts

Macross/Robotech VF-1J statue - SnapMaker U1 testing by a scrub

Hey guys,

New to FDM printing and using my FDM, after about 600 hours of printing the standard fair with the stock 0.4mm nozzle, I wanted to print some miniatures.

This is more of a journal post than anything useful but I thought it would be good to share. Its worth noting the 0.06mm layer height profile was removed by SnapMaker as they kept having issues in testing. That said I really wanted 0.06mm layer heights as I want to try making some pre-coloured ready to battle miniatures with the U1s tool changer for family battles.

For my first 0.06mm layer height print with a 0.2mm nozzle, I wanted to do a big statue. Why? Because I can print something fun that will give me tuning opportunity with parts I am less likely to throw away. I am more than happy to sand off a few parts, modeling and finishing is all part of the fun.

I would like to print a benchy equivalent if someone can suggest something like a particular space marine or orc or something. That said I definitely learned a lot about the process with 0.2mm nozzles

The model is meant for a resin printer but I thought it would make a good stress test. It is far superior to any of the 1/72 Bandai kits of the same subject matter I have made, even with my poor starter printing skills, for reference:

https://cults3d.com/:3362113

I upsized to 150% to increase the panel gaps to make FDM less obvious. GW Culexus Assassin for reference.

Photos show it stuck together with putty prior to sanding, and priming for painting. Think of it as just off the spru.

First up I tried printing the base with PETG supports, a 1 GB G-Code file with 3 day print duration.

On the first day the PETG and PLA come off the base and it warped, as this is a print to failure process, I let the printer continue to see what other things I would run into.

On the 2nd day it rained and I do not have a AMS dryer for my printer. PETG became stringy, and incorporated into the stand but was still functional. I let it finish as nothing looked like I couldn't clean it up. I will come back to this

Troubleshooting steps:

  • Reduce infill to 5%. While it could be 0%, I plan to mount this high on a wall facing down, so some more structure is desirable.
  • Obvious AMS drying.

I printed the legs of the model next with the dryer and initially things went very well, but the model shifted when the legs were connected in PLA and the legs became uselessly deformed.

Wanting some quick wins, I shifted gears to smaller part prints. Initially I threw down the head, some bits and bobs, and the backpack on 1 plate to let it run for 8 hours while I was at work.

This was a big mistake as I missed one of the most important rules everyone else already knew. Print by object! All of my 0.4mm prints had no issues with this setup, having printed off a number of gear cog wind up cars for my wifes students, it was a standard practice I had been following.

These prints were unusable and photos above show some of these compared to the finals. The far right backpack in the picture of 3 is one such example.

Along with printing by object, I also switched to PLA supports and while this made it harder to remove, the quality was not that different, and print times improved by around 25%. These 2 changes made a big difference but all was not perfect. This is hte middle backpack i nthe lineup of 3. My problem now was some less than amazing under sides.

Some advice I often saw was to print on a 45 degree angle, so I did that. I also saw a lot of random over extrusion on layers that had substantial object changes. I added 2 layers, 6 up from the SnapMaker 4. The layer lines in the base are a good example of something I can sand on a statue that on a thin Skitarii would have ruined the whole print.

The result is the left backback in the lineup of 3, which has a more regular extrusion and looks substantially better on all sides.

I then reprinted the base and everything just looks so much better!

Printer: SnapMaker U1

Filiments:

SnapMaker PLA

SnapMaker PETG - supports,

Filament profiles are all provided by snapmaker with some extrusion tuning.

Starting off:

used the original SnapMaker 0.08 profile

Final settings adjsuted from defaults:

Firmware 2.0 with 0.08 layer height profile with the following adjustments:

0.06 layer height

6 walls

5% infill

20 degree supports

resolution 0.008

slice gap 0.03

outer wall speed 60 mm/s

Reduce infill retraction set to false

u/Low-Branch1423 — 9 days ago

Weird Top Surface Finish

On most if not all of my prints, when printing the top surface, after it finishes the layer, the printer seems to go back around and "dot" the surface in a way similar to how one might "put the finishing touches" on something they've made. It results in these sharp little points I then have to sand or file off.

Does anyone else have this issue and have a resolution for it?

I use Snapmaker Orca, typically default settings except for things like wall count, infill type, etc. The printer I had before this was a Makergear M2 that I used with Orca so I'm not totally foreign to the 3D printing world but I'm lacking a way to even describe this issue to be able to search for a way to fix it lol

u/gregokent — 9 days ago

Cheapest EU price currently?

Hi all,

So apparently the US has a great deal again ($720 on Amazon), whereas it's not sold on Amazon in the EU. This would be an instant no-brainer for me, but I live in EU...

What are the best options in the EU right now? I know there's a 8% discount if you already own a printer (which I don't have), and some working 5% codes floating around, but that does not get anywhere close to the US deal. It gets even worse if you account for currency conversion.

I really want to support Snapmaker's community embracing approach (unlike some competitors), but pricing discrepancies are making me feel quite bad about 850. Even worse knowing the amount of € I need to spend to upgrade it capable of engineering filaments...

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u/Tomkruis — 9 days ago

Joining the Snapmaker community - some questions please?

So my U1 will arrive in a few days. Surprisingly, all the reading I've done so far doesn't answer these questions.

Setting the Z off-set. I understand the bed mesh (auto bed leveling) works, but the actual Z off-set is a stored value and you have to adjust (do a test print) and 'save config' for each type of build plate you use. Is that correct? Disappointing if so, my Prusa Mk4, 2 years old does it auto, so do my QIDI Q1 Pro and Q2 and the first uses an external load sensor while the Prusa and Q2 run the sensor through the nozzle.

I couldn't find any reference to how it's actually done (like the X-Max 3 I have uses a 'thickness' card to get you very close). If not auto I worry adding like the BIQU will result in grooves in the plate during setting the value (ask me how I know 😄 ).

Build plate size. I'm looking for some non-OEM plates like BIQU and others. On their website Snapmaker shows the build volume (270 cubed) but not the actual plate size. I get conflicting info from AI. On one hand they say 276x293mm is good (many sellers advertise this one) and others 301 to 304 on the depth. Some reading says there's 'wipe surfaces' not included in dimensions and the 301-304 are more correct providing for that surface at the back.

Any help on these is much appreciated - thank you in advance!

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u/daveintexarkana — 8 days ago

Has anyone had issues printing after installing the v2.0.0 firmware?

Since mid-September, I have not been able to print successfully and I am trying to figure out the root cause. These are my changes which I plan to isolate 1 by 1 to see what might be going wrong.

  1. v2.0.0 Firmware update
  2. installed the top cover
  3. switched to printing ABS

I did these things all at once because I was excited to do some ABS prints with the U1, but every print since the firmware update has failed at about .25" with a firmware restart error.

-I did a toolhead recalibration and checked the cables with no success.

-I also put a 1000kW backup battery in front of the printer in case it was a consistent power issue related to the increased print temperature.

-The new filament came straight from the sealed package though I didn't dry it additionally. Layers before the error were very good quality with no bubbles or gaps.

-I also tried applying glue just to see if there was an adhesion error (the filament hardened after the respective errors and the model came loose but I was trying to rule out the model coming loose during printing itself).

As I troubleshoot, I am just curious if anyone else has had errors crop up after the v2.0.0 firmware update.

Thanks!

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u/Suspicious-Site2621 — 9 days ago
▲ 22 r/SnapmakerU1+1 crossposts

Loud toolhead noise on strictly horizontal or vertical movements

My U1 can be pretty loud, like can easily hear it from across the house loud, so for the past couple days I've been trying various methods to make it quieter. I've turned the acceleration down to 6k but I'm not sure this noise is related to acceleration speeds?

Anyway, when the toolhead moves in only the x or y direction, it's very loud. I tested this by rotating a print of a rectangle slightly and printing it again and the sound is gone. Sorry for the fan noise in the video.

Here's a link to the video (since I can't put two videos in a post) of the rotated rectangle where that sound is no longer happening https://files.catbox.moe/8c2pqb.mp4

Any ideas for why this noise is happening or how to solve it?

u/AgenderTurtle — 11 days ago

Print profiles question.

I’m sure there was a reason but why was the “0.16 High Quality” profile removed from Snapmaker Orca? In the patch notes it says they were merged into “Standard”?

All it did was change speed settings correct? So if I choose standard and reduce speed it should be the same?

I used the quality profile a lot and just want to make sure I am understanding it correctly.

Thanks

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u/Dysfunkshin — 9 days ago